Why should you care about the current "debate" over Public Broadcasting? Why should spurious charges over liberal bias (despite a lack of real evidence) concern you? Why should you care about the rantings of a few right-wing nutjobs? Because it's not a new fight. It's the same war that was waged many, many years ago.
And Kenneth Tomlinson, the man leading the charge to disgrace and dismantle the last bastion of objective reporting - public broadcasting - is no stranger to smear campaigns. He learned his trade well - during the halcyon days of the McCarthy era.
As Salon reports:
Tomlinson's attempt to push back the so-called liberal media is not surprising given his journalistic past -- which is where Fulton Lewis Jr., the broadcaster with the intriguing, albeit distant, connection to the ongoing debate, comes in. A prominent radio broadcaster in the '40s, '50s and '60s, Lewis was known for his complete lack of objectivity. At his commercial peak he was heard on more than 500 radio stations and boasted a weekly audience of 16 million listeners. An erstwhile Rush Limbaugh, Lewis was the master of the partisan smear who rarely strayed from GOP talking points. In 1948, New York Herald Tribune radio columnist John Crosby suggested that Lewis "ought to be recognized as a campaigner, not as a commentator, and his national air time be paid for and so listed by the Republican National Committee."
In 1949 the New Republic noted that Lewis' "wild charges were part of his campaign over many years to smear in every way possible the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and everybody not in accord with the most reactionary political beliefs."
What's THIS? A political pundit trashing FDR's New Deal? Hmmm....I'm beginning to get the strongest sense of deja vu...all over again. Salon continues:
Hunting communists became a full-time job for Lewis. According to a flattering 1954 biography of the broadcaster, "Praised and Damned: The Story of Fulton Lewis, Jr.," Lewis was "as close to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy as any other man in the national scene." Look magazine agreed, calling Lewis one of McCarthy's "masterminds."
In "Praised and Damned" Lewis describes his loyalty to McCarthy this way: "When you know an individual to be attempting to do a public service, a patriotic service, and you see him maligned by groups which are not thinking in the public interest, you have a tendency to be a little over-generous with the guy."
Even after McCarthy was revealed as a phony who could not document his claims that hundreds of communists had infiltrated the federal government, Lewis remained loyal. Over time, the broadcaster's reputation faded, and today he's a largely forgotten figure (although in 1987 the Washington Post remembered Lewis as "one of the most unprincipled journalists ever to practice the trade").
Okay, okay. So this guy Lewis was one of McCarthy's "masterminds" - a fear-monger peddling hate and lies. An "unprincipled journalist." Yadda, yadda. Big deal. That's so 50 years ago. That can't possibly be relevant to today's political partisan climate.
What's interesting about Lewis now is that two men at the forefront of the effort to rid public broadcasting of its presumed liberal bias both learned journalism at his knee. One, CPB chief Tomlinson, worked as an intern for Lewis. The other, William Schulz, whom Tomlinson recently named as one of the CPB's two ombudsmen, was a writer for Lewis.
Ah. Well. Hm.
To some, the idea that these two are in charge of promoting objective journalism in public broadcasting is appalling. "It's shocking and disgraceful," says former New York Times columnist and reporter Anthony Lewis, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage during the McCarthy era. "If both men wrote for Fulton Lewis it means they were dedicated to an extreme-right position that should disqualify them from determining somebody's objectivity."
While there is no mention on Tomlinson's official CPB bio of his association with Lewis, an Oct. 16, 2002, NewsMax.com article reported: "Tomlinson's resume also includes an internship with the late Fulton Lewis Jr., a conservative network commentator in the 'pre-Rush' days of AM radio."
Likewise, the bio of Schulz that the CPB posted online after he was named one of its ombudsmen fails to mention his connection with Lewis. But in a 1997 interview, Schulz recalled, "I went to Antioch College in Ohio, and they had a work-study program, and I got a couple of newspaper jobs, and then I worked for Human Events. Then I went to work for Fulton Lewis Jr., who was a radio commentator and columnist."
Both Tomlinson and Schulz declined to comment for this article. Lewis died in 1966.
So, for those keeping score, extreme right-wing idealogues who were trained by one of McCarthy's "masterminds" are now in charge of making PBS "Fair and Balanced." Because, in the neo-America, fair and balanced = hard-line party hack. I'm just guessing here. I don't have Karl Rove's talking points in front of me.
Doesn't it scare people that the very same people who once dragged our nation through a divisive and hateful crusade against truth, justice, and decency are once again attempting to subvert and destroy our country? Using the same tactics of lies and deception, these men are fighting the same war they lost decades ago, all over again.
I guess General MacArthur was right. "Old soldiers never die...."
...I just wish these guys would fade away already!
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